


Pool Closes At 10

by Lokisgame



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Summer Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25829287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokisgame/pseuds/Lokisgame
Summary: "You can eat and bathe or bathe and sleep. You can't do all three."
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 36
Kudos: 106





	1. Chapter 1

"The pool is open until 10pm," said the owner handing Mulder his key.  
"I wonder when that was cleaned," Scully said under her breath, but not quietly enough to escape the woman's apparently keen ear.  
"Now listen, you see that picture there?" She pointed to a framed photograph on the wall behind the shabby counter. "That is my nephew, Gary, Olympic silver medalist from Rome, 1994, 100 meters freestyle," she said, her considerable chest puffing out, straining buttons on her blouse. "My pool is as clean as your bathtub, perhaps cleaner."  
"I…" Scully began, but Mulder stopped her with one hand on her shoulder.  
"Sorry, we meant no disrespect," he said quickly, blinding the woman with his most dazzling smile, "congratulations on your nephew's success, you must be very proud."  
"He's my pride and joy," she said, looking at the picture longingly, "if he only had time to visit,"  
"I'm sure he would find your pool up to highest standards," Mulder finished for her, steering still fuming Scully to the door. "Now if you'll excuse us, this was a long day and I'm sure you got a lot to do as well. Goodnight."  
The door jingled and again they were sweating in the late Arizona afternoon. Mulder breathed in then laughed.  
"That was a nice change of pace."  
"Laugh it up," Scully said following him back to the car, "how could I know?"  
"You could have noticed the picture. The office was practically wallpapered with them."  
"We just spent 4 hours in a car with broken AC in 90 degrees heat," she murmured, "my brain is fried."  
"Is that an official medical term, Doctor Scully?" Mulder chuckled popping the trunk and looking up, he saw her rub her temples.  
"It is tonight," she sighed and her shoulders slumped. "Thanks for stepping in," she said tiredly, "I'll apologize to her tomorrow."  
Mulder pulled out their bags and forced himself to scale back on the ribbing.  
"C'mon," he said holding on to both of their bags, "let's see if rest of this place passes muster."  
They climbed the stairs to the second floor gallery and their adjoining rooms. The sun set behind the building and fading rays of golden light reflected off the pool painted flowing patterns on walls and eaves. Mulder opened the door to her room and set the bag inside the door.  
"Looks clean enough," Scully said, plopped down on the bed and promptly fell backwards. "G'night."  
Mulder laughed and went through the connecting door into the other room. He stepped out of his shoes and pulled the sweat-soaked shirt over his head.  
"You want some dinner before you fall asleep?" He said peeking back into her room, she still lay sprawled on the comforter, as he left her.  
"I can sleep in my bathtub while eating," Scully mumbled back.  
"You can eat and bathe or bathe and sleep. You can't do all three." He chuckled and crossed the room to crank up the AC. "Not that I recommend any combination, really."  
"I'm good at multitasking."  
"I know, but I don't think our insurance covers drowning in your sleep while eating." He said and pulled the sensible heels off her feet. She didn't fight him, but stretching out, she pulled the hem of her blouse out of her slacks, exposing two inches of pale skin. Mulder leaned over her, his weight resting on his fists on both sides of her chest. "You're adorable, you know that?"  
"I'm not, so don't call me that," she warned, but smiled all the same.  
"Your brain is fried and you won't remember a thing I said," he leaned low and breathed against her lips, "what do you care?"  
"You're right, I don't." She grinned and pulled him down with arms wrapped around his neck. The kiss was slow and sloppy and her lips soft and yielding. Fingers twined in his hair sending shivers down his spine for a few delicious seconds, before they fell away, limp and tired as their owner.  
"Sleep," he said kissing her salty forehead, "I'll wake you up when food is here."  
"Thank you," she mumbled and her eyelids dropped, this time staying shut.  
Mulder brushed one more kiss on the corner of her mouth, and went to call for takeout before heading into shower.  
Luminous waves played on the ceiling over Scully's head.


	2. Chapter 2

They had one rule when traveling for a case: no sleeping together. Of course Mulder wouldn't be himself, if he didn't find a way around it. He purposefully set his alarm ten minutes before Scully's just to climb into her bed so they could at least wake up together. Today however wasn't one of those days.   
Scully woke up and stretched to find a cool, empty space where usually a kiss would be waiting for her. She got up, splashed her face with water and wrapped in a bathrobe, went outside to see if their car was still where they parked it last night. A body in the pool caught her eye.   
Mulder switched from his usual morning run to a morning swim. Strong arms cut the surface in long strokes while his feet made the smallest of splashes. She watched transfixed while he did his last three laps, gracefully diving each time to turn around. Folding his arms on the edge of the pool, which had to be at least 6 feet deep on that end, he looked up. She gave his a little wave and he smiled back and pulled himself out of the water.  
"You're up early," she said when he came in, trying not to stare at the towel around his hips.  
"I couldn't resist," he said and leaned in for a kiss, "you should try it."  
She kissed him then sighed dramatically. "If only I had packed my swimsuit."  
"I'm sure we could work something out."   
"I don't think the owner would take kindly to me going skinny dipping."   
Mulder laughed and started for his room. "I was thinking more like buying one at the mall down town, but I like the way you're thinking."   
The moment he turned, Scully lunged forward and tried to tug on the towel but he was faster. He turned just as her fingertips brushed the skin on the small of his back and caught her wrist, pulling her back against his chest with her arm trapped between them.  
"Now what?" He murmured running his unshaven chin against her cheek. "Wanna wrestle?"  
"No," she giggled and squirmed. "I wanted to see the fabled red speedo."   
His laugh rolled through her when he pressed a kiss against the side of her neck before letting go and heading for his own room and shower.   
"Later, maybe, if you behave," he teased.  
Scully smiled after him and looked out to the sky outside her window. Blue was quickly turning white, heralding another scorching hot day.


	3. Chapter 3

Working on a tight budget they stopped renting separate cars on cases that were low profile and this assignment was basically a field trip prompted by Mulder's restlessness. They split the workload. He interviewed witnesses, she combed through town archives. The good news was, she got the air conditioned offices, bad - she hasn't seen him since before lunch.  
They agreed to compare notes over dinner and Scully hitched a ride back to the motel with a nosy female deputy, fending off thinly vailed questions about the marital status of her partner. She nodded to the woman at the reception and climbed the stairs to their rooms looking at the pool shimmering in the last rays of sunshine. She wished she could dive into the cool water and wash away the day but she wasn't one to mix business with pleasure. Mulder was the one who could turn an investigation into a weekend in Atlantic City, pick up tickets to a football game in town or know to pack swimsuit because the motel just might happen to have one.   
She fished out her key and opening the door, she was surprised by cool air and a gift bag waiting in the middle of her bed.   
"You didn't," she sighed and opened the attached card.   
_"Happy very late birthday, The Fiji Mermaid."_  
She recognized Mulder's handwriting at once, but it was the clumsy drawing that made her laugh. A vaguely humanoid figure with fish tail instead of legs, he even drew the scales. Scully dreaded what she might find inside, knowing Mulder it might be a polyester stocking with rubber fins attached at the end, but not this time. It was a simple one piece sport swimsuit, black with white trim and low cut back. A glance at her watch told her she had at least half an hour before Mulder got there. She stripped out of her work clothes and tried the suit on. It fit her perfectly and there even was a pair of flip-flops in the bag to go with it.   
"You know me so well," she sighed happily, and grabbing a towel, went downstairs to wait for Mulder. 

Stopping at a red light, Mulder yanked on his tie and rolled up his sleeves. He interviewed twelve witnesses in a 30 mile radius of the sighting and if someone opened his scull right now, his brain would probably resemble a grayish-pink mush. He needed rest before he even began to make sense of the information he gathered and even then, he was pretty sure it wouldn't amount to much. Another questionable sighting based on a shaky video and a few blurry photos of lights. If it wasn't for the fact that there was no military installations in the area, he wouldn't even bother Scully with the trip, a few phone calls would suffice. He was hopeful at first, but his enthusiasm died very easily these days. They ran the X-files and it was their job to gather facts, catalogue them and file away for future reference but years of experience, loss and disappointment had left their mark on his faith. Few years back the lack of resolution would fuel his frustration for weeks, now he simply let himself enjoy the process and time spent working on site. Better Scully in hand than a UFO in the sky.  
Mulder parked in their usual spot, gathering his things and got out of the car. Giddy excitement began to bubble in his chest. A faint splashing came from behind the hedge that shielded the pool area from the view of the street. Nodding to the girl at the reception office, he ran up the five steps and grinned.   
Scattered water drops glittered in the fading sun with each stroke and kick. Two pulls, breath on third, two pulls, breath, two pulls, dive, turn, surface, two pulls, breath. Watching water slide over her bare back and admiring her flawless technique, he followed Scully along the side of the pool and she had to notice him. So when she turned around for another lap, he knew she was showing off. Mulder crouched on the edge of the pool and waited.


	4. Chapter 4

"You really should stop leaving me birthday gifts," Scully said holding on to the edge of the pool. "I have one birthday, once a year."  
Mulder cocked his head to one side and tried to peer over the edge to see what's hidden beneath the surface. "Wait, you're naked?" He leaned in and just then, Scully flicked water right in his face.  
"You're terrible," he said and wiped a few drops that reached his eye.  
When he finally looked up, she was nowhere in sight. He scanned the pool until he noticed a shape in the deep. She didn't come up when he called out, so he glanced at his watch. Twenty seconds passed, thirty, one minute. After a minute and a half he started muttering to himself. "Scully, come on." His heart began to pound and at two minutes and 5 seconds he jumped.  
He found her sitting cross-legged on tiles covering the bottom of the pool and when she noticed him and smiled, his anger came bubbling up through his lungs. Mulder grabbed her by the arm and kicked himself up, dragging her along to the surface.  
They both panted for a second before he yelled. "Are you out of your mind?"  
Scully laughed but seeing his anger cooled down fast. "I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd jump in, at least not all dressed up."  
Mulder caught the edge of the pool, and pulled himself out.  
"Old lifeguard habits die hard," he said and headed for the stairs to their rooms, accompanied by the sound of water squishing and sloshing in his shoes. 

He was fighting his wet shirt in the bathroom having managed to get it mostly off his back, but his arms stayed stuck in the rolled up sleeves. That's when Scully's arms wrapped around him.  
"I'm sorry," she said softly, "I didn't mean to scare you."  
"Well, you did," he growled and again yanked at the cuff.  
Scully stepped around him and without looking up took his arm in her hands and patiently started to unroll the soaked fabric.  
"When we were kids, Charlie and I used to play this game, who could stay longer underwater. On the count of three we'd dive together and my dad would start the count." She unrolled one sleeve and moved to the other. Her fingers slipped to his left wrist to unbuckled the band on his watch. "I always loved his watch with all the tiny dials and buttons, and the stopwatch was my favorite, it worked like magic." She lifted his watch to her ear for a few beats, before twisting the crown on the side to wind it. "At first glance it looked like the second hand was just that, one hand, but then he'd push a button and a second one appeared, hidden under the first."  
"A rattrapante chronograph."  
"Is that what it's called?" She smiled setting the watch on a shelf over the sink.  
"A double chronograph, yeah." He said and watched her work on untangling the knots he made earlier. "So what was your best time?" He asked breaking the silence.  
"My best was little over four minutes." She said and with one last tug freed his hands.  
"And your brother?"  
"He never got past three," she said and stepped into his arms, "he always tried to make me laugh."  
Mulder chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. "Cheater."  
"Are you still mad?" She asked, planting a kiss on his chest.  
Mulder sighed and returned the kiss on top of her head. "No, just don't scare me like that again."  
"I won't," she promised and climbing on tiptoes, caught his lips for a long breath. "I really love the swimsuit, thank you."  
He smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You're welcome."


End file.
